Ruminations of an evening walk

I thought we were getting easterly winds when I opened the door to leave and was greeted by a warm breeze.  It wasn’t that bad, though, because it was only a little warm and it was rather pleasant throughout the walk. I noted pockets of cool air occasionally while walking. Normally I only notice this when it’s particularly hot, which it wasn’t. I think I’ll be hoping for the cool pockets over the course of this week as it heats up again.

Instead of walking on the footpath on the side of one road, I went through the grass. I simply couldn’t be bothered crossing the road near the roundabout. This was rather fortuitous because I happened to notice a number of interesting plants growing over back fences of houses on that side. Of particular interest was a Chinese apple tree. I’d never seen these until about two weeks ago when one was offered to us to try at a local shop. The Scientist had one then bought a few. There were two trees with foliage hanging over the fences of two  different gardens. Dozens of the fruit lay on the ground below. If I’d had a bag, I might have picked up a few to take home before they rotted. I also noted an unusual cactus with fruit and a banana tree with green fruit.

I love seeing the evening sky change colors as night closes in. It was very much daylight when I started out but was nearly dark when I returned home. The rising of the nearly full moon was a nice addition.

I took my pda with me and listened to music while I walked. I really need to get a smaller mp3 player that I can transport more easily. I have been in the habit of listening to albums from start to finish in recent years, but I purposely have used the shuffle function to mix it up. Mostly this was a satisfying experience. Tonight seemed to be all about Augie March since I randomly heard four or five of their songs in just over an hour of listening.

I realized that it was almost ideal weather for walking tonight, with just a hint of a warm breeze that was very unlike the recent gusty and sometimes quite chilly winds. For a time while I was traveling down an old road, I experienced a strong feeling of solitude despite passing cyclists and seeing other pedestrians in the distance ahead of me. Earlier my mind had been filled with images of the horror bush fires in Victoria and the floods in Queensland. But with my music playing and being alone at dusk, it was really peaceful and serene for a while. Kind of ironic considering the old road is at the edge of a commercial/industrial area in the neighboring suburb.

Sunday nights aren’t exactly ideal for walking at nightfall due to the stench from the bins put out along the streets for a Monday garbage pick up. It was the only really unpleasant part of the walk. I am thankful that it wasn’t any warmer or it would have been far worse. I might try to stick to my bicycle on future Sunday evenings to avoid this.